The dining hall when we entered it was beyond enormous, it was absolutely massive. The walls were the same color as the ones in the commons with the same neon green strip engraved and carved into it. Hanging from the ceiling, there was another futuristic looking chandelier glowing a bright golden light down onto the rest of dining hall. I couldn't help the expression that was on my face when I saw the ginormous table covered in foods of all different kinds.
"A full turkey, ham, every kind of salad known to man, 3 full hams, bottomless steak, cannolis, ice-cream, french fries, biscuits, cheddar biscuits, shrimp, steamed shrimp, fried shrimp, shrimp on rice, bacon wrapped shrimp, bacon, waffles-"
"Thank you Ms. Kira, but I think we get the picture." Oliver silenced her with his words.
Kira stopped talking and just continued to look with me at the spread. I just arrived at this school and already I'm being treated like a god. This was amazing! No wonder this school was so world renowned.
I stepped forward towards the table. I skipped out on breakfast this morning because I knew I was going to be late for school if I had eaten breakfast, so I was downright starving. As I started making my way towards the table, everyone else, aside from Oliver made their way to the table as well, talking to each other about the school and their classes and such. As I sat down, everyone folded their hands and said a prayer, before eating themselves sick.
While everyone was eating, Solomon stood up and held his glass out in front of him, tapping on it with his steak knife gently. In response to the tapping sound, everyone stopped eating and looked up at Solomon, who looked around at everyone else.
"Gentlemen, it has been a long while since we have admitted anyone into our school, and today we finally welcome in a new student." he looked down at me. "Thomas, we all warmly welcome you into our school, and hope you enjoy your time here."
Everyone cheered and applauded. My cheeks flushed red as everyone cheered and chanted my name. I had never in my life been pampered this much. Not even the rich family that adopted me had given me more than a single apple at dinner time even though there was an entire feast out on their rich, spoiled table. I stood up, raised a glass and smiled for everyone, and after I did, we all continued to eat.
30 minutes later.
Most of the students were finished eating at this point and were just talking to each other. On my plate, there was still half a steak and some Caesar salad. I felt bad not being hungry enough to finish it, but I didn't want to make myself sick either. I looked around at everyone smiling and laughing together, and noticed one thing that caught my attention. There was no girls aside from Kira.
"Say, why is Kira the only girl here?" I asked, still looking around.
Oliver, who was behind us, sitting on a bench reading a book, shut his book with one hand hard, and stood up. Solomon took a large glug of his sparkling cider from his glass mug and placed it back down gently, turning to Oliver.
"The girls are all currently in class right now. Mr. Pennington agreed to be their teacher for today, despite his hesitation after hearing about the amount of food was promised."
Wait...Mr. Pennington? Is he the only teacher here? That must be a hard task to tackle alone.
"No. We have no teachers here." Oliver replied immediately to my thought.
I flinched at this. He did it again!? How can he know what I'm thinking? Does he have some kind of superpower that allows him to see minds? Surely not.
"It's true. Solomon's parents are actually the ones who had this place built, and decided that only students who are willing to be responsible and be their own teachers when necessary can be here. It's a very risky honor system, but with Solomon, Oliver and I as the sole faculty, this place is kept under the best care the world has ever seen." Kira said, twirling her finger on the rim of her glass.
Holy crap, Solomon's family is the owner and founder of Neo Future High? That's friggin' awesome! I can't imagine how cool that must be.
Solomon stood up and started to move towards the very back wall of the dining hall, where a large picture of three people sat. I immediately assumed the people were Solomon's parents.
"These two. They were my parents. It was on the same night that they died that we all had a feast together, just like this one. It was magnificent. Food was fresh from the kitchen, drinks with their ice cubes still intact and cold to the touch."
Solomon's voice was low and deep, sadness creeping its way into every word, like a thief into vault. Oliver closed his eyes and turned away crossing his arms and sighing through his nose heavily.
Solomon was an orphan too, just like me. He shared the same eternal sadness that I had surely.
"A man, dressed in black, and wearing a mask threw 3 knives into both my parents throats, killing my mother instantly. My father, on his final breath, held my hand and made me promise one thing to him..."
Solomon looked up, clenching his fists and glaring with hope and determination into our hearts. My entire soul shook and rattled at the sight of his piercing eyes. Never would I have thought that just a glare would have this kind of reaction on me.
"...that promise was to take this school and protect it and anyone who resides in with all my strength. My father loved this school like it was his child. So I knew that I had to give this place as much love as my father would have. That is the promise I made."
The rest of the students lowered their heads as silence rose instantly throughout the room.
An orphan just like I was. When you become an orphan, you start to lose all sense that everyone else has the possibility of having the same problems that you do. Because of this, a sense of surprise hit me when I heard his words.
How....sad....
Those were the only words that crossed my mind at the time. Nothing else could really describe what I wanted to say or think.
"Well then!"
Solomon clapped his hands together hard, raising everyone's head, including mine. Despite such a sad story, Solomon looked...happy? How could someone ever be happy after telling such a story like that? Oliver snickered and walked forward towards the giant picture, shaking his head as he walked.
An aroma slid past my nose as he walked. It smelled like rich perfume. Typical.
Oliver placed one hand on the picture, closing his eyes and smiling warmly. His mouth began to form silent words.
Solomon spread his arms widely and smiled a large welcoming smile. Just seeing this smile made me want to smile. In fact, I think I am smiling.
"Now that the feast is done, I think it's time for a tour of our esteemed school! There's so much to show you I wouldn't know where to begin unless I had-"
"Some help from a cool tour guide?"
A very relaxed and stereotypical hip voice came from the main doors behind all of us. When we all turned around, there stood a male, about 5'10" tall, wearing a grey sweatshirt with a black undershirt that bore a symbol that I couldn't quite make out. His hair was a monotone grey and his eyes were also a shade of grey.
He was slightly hunched over and his hands were in his pant pockets. He gave off a very...relaxed feeling.
I caught myself staring and averted my eyes, only for him to notice this.
What can I say? I'm a very subtle guy.
"Well, well, you must be the new guy! That is friggin' SICK my dude! Welcome to Neo Future High! My names Joshua Penrington, at your wickedly amazing service."
Josh was, like the rest of the students, very welcoming and kind.
"Joshua is our main teacher for the girls. I don't know what it is about him, but they love him." Kira giggled as she said this.
Looks like his charm is working even now.
Josh blushed and put his hands behind his head, leaning back a little, smiling wide. As he did this, Kira swayed a little, almost falling over.
Oh for gods-
"RIIIING RIIIIIIIIIING GYEEHEEEHEEEHEEEEE!!!"
A loud , obnoxious, and sinister sounding laugh boomed through the dining hall.
'I don't see how this plot could be any more rushed!' I thought angrily as the students all started to panic and cover their ears.
Right when I thought this, a giant TV dropped from the ceiling and on the screen was a masked male with eyes of pure insanity. Solomon growled angrily at this sight. Does he know who this guy is???
"Ohhhhhh SOLOMOOOOOOOON! It would appear to be THAT time of the year agaiiiiinnnn! HEEEEEHEEHEEHEEEEE!!!!"
This truly is...the most unlucky day of my life...